Street walking in Havana—highly recommended

Havana at night

Walking tours are a great way to get to know a foreign city, and Poor John and I have done many around the world.

This year, we were lucky enough to have almost three days to stroll around Cuba’s Old Havana, also known as La Habana Vieja.

Darbel, a young Cuban who teaches English part-time, guided us on the first day, and we managed to blunder around by ourselves for two more.

I thought his name was unusual and he said his mum made it up. Darbel knows his city well and is very proud of its history, architecture, museums, galleries and plazas. So this post covers our day with Darbel.

Statue of Cervantes in the park that’s named after him

We started with a visit to the statue of Spanish novelist, poet and playwright, Miguel de Cervantes, in a park that bears his name. His works had so much influence on the Spanish language that it is sometimes called la lengua de Cervantes (the language of Cervantes). This statue, by Italian sculptor Carlos Nicoli, was unveiled in 1908. It’s thought to be the first monument to Cervantes erected in the Americas.

Havana Cathedral

On cathedral square

Bell tower

Next stop was the Plaza de la Catedral with its magnificent Catedral de San Cristóbal or Cathedral of the Virgin May of the Immaculate Conception. This plaza used to be a swamp. It was drained and used as a naval dockyard until the cathedral was started in 1748. The cathedral was closed when we were there, so we didn’t get to snoop inside, but we could admire the Baroque facade.

Most of the church is built from coral blocks cut from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. Marine fossils can be seen in the walls, but I learned about that too late to photograph any.

The exterior is interesting other ways. The right bell tower is wider than the left, and holds two bells that were cast with gold and silver mixed into bronze, which supposedly makes the sound sweeter. The cathedral supposedly has the only Baroque façade with such a distinctive asymmetrical feature.

I was stunned to learn that the cathedral once held the remains of Christopher Columbus. Apparently in 1796, after the Peace of Basel was signed and Spain ceded most of the island, Hispaniola, to France, Columbus’ remains were moved to the cathedral’s Altar of the Gospel. His remains were returned to Spain in 1898.

Signing the wall

Hemingway’s watering hole

Not far from the plaza is the legendary bar, La Bodeguita del Medio, one of Ernest Hemingway’s favourite watering holes and a popular stop for tourists.

Next stop was the Plaza de Armas, built in the 1600s and used for military exercises (hence the name) until the mid-1700s. Today it’s lush with palm trees and other tropical plants, and popular as a place for Cubans to relax.

A popular second-hand book market operates next to the plaza. It’s open Tuesdays to Sundays and has all sorts of classic Cuban books, many out of print. I couldn’t find any cookbooks, but about a week later we saw the books and stands being packed up at the end of the day. Seems they have a storage building on the edge of the plaza. That was also the day we saw the dancers bringing zing to the plaza.

But for now I’m sticking to our day with Darbel.

Plaza de San Francisco

Cars by San Francisco Square

San Francisco Square

Basilica

Overlooking the harbour, a cruise ship and the vacant Customs House.

So on to the Plaza de San Francisco directly across from the port. The Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis is the most important building in the square. Built between 1580–91, it has a 42-metre high bell tower that Poor John and I climbed. That gave us a great view of the plaza, as well as the harbour and the old Customs building, which is now closed but will probably be turned in to a luxury hotel one day.

Vieja Plaza or Old Square

Plaza Vieja before

Darbel and Poor John

Our final stop was the Plaza Vieja (Old Plaza). In days gone by, it was the scene of executions, processions, bullfights and fiestas. In recent years, the plaza has been restored to its old elegance. The fabulous buildings that border the square include the elegant Casa del Conde Jaruco, now a venue for art exhibits. The upper floor has wonderful half-moon stained-glass windows.

But wait—as the pushy TV sellers say—there’s more.

Darbel was supposed to spend an entire day with us, but we had an air-conditioning flood in the room at our homestay, so we were off to a very late start. As a result, we had only four or five hours with him. Luckily, he kindly offered to return to give us a night expedition. Yes please, we said.

Fort during the day

Cannon entourage

Fort entrance

Christ statue

The main aim of our evening excursion was to experience the cannon-firing ceremony at the Fort of Saint Charles (or Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña), which we had seen during our daytime outing. The nightly firing dates back to colonial times and signals the closing of the city gate.

The fort, also known as la Cabaña, is on a peninsula. We could have taken a taxi around to it, but it was much faster and much cheaper to go by local ferry (about 10 cents a person). If you ever need to cross the harbour in Havana, use the local ferry and give them the smallest coin you have.

After we crossed, we walked up to the fort. There was some time before the cannon-firing at 9pm, so we visited the statue of Christ and enjoyed views over to the harbour. What a great view of Havana at night. Especially great to see the

Souvenirs galore

Once you get in the fort, there are souvenir sellers everywhere, so it’s true—you must enter and exit by the souvenir shop! Not surprisingly, the firing itself is surrounded by ceremony, uniforms, drums and pomp.

Overall a great day, and I’ll be back soon with new views of our other two days of strolling in Havana.

San Francisco square at night